Cashew Chicken

Cashew Chicken just like they serve at your favorite Chinese restaurant.

I’ve mentioned before that I am lucky enough to be married to man who pretty much loves everything I make. So sometimes it is hard for me to gauge how good something really is because he likes everything. There have been a few rare instances where he hasn’t liked something and believe me I have never made that again.

Last week I made an old family standby dinner that I hadn’t made in quite a while. I think my husband told me at least three times during the meal how much he liked it. I always get at least one Yum but when I get it three times I KNOW it’s a good one.

So today’s recipe is that 3 Yum recipe! Cashew Chicken.

This is the dish I always order when we go out for Chinese food. I love cashew chicken.

We have one of those funny family stories that we tell and retell just about every time we go out for Chinese food and order cashew chicken. Which is every time we go out for Chinese food.

I was pregnant with our second son Clark. As always, we ordered cashew chicken. My favorite part is the cashews so this particular evening I had made a little pile of cashews on my plate to save for the very end, so I could savor them. Well, I had to get up to go to the bathroom during dinner (remember I was pregnant) and when I came back my cashews were gone.

When I saw that my cashews were gone I got a little upset, okay, a lot upset. Remember I was pregnant! My husband apologized and felt terrible for eating them. He thought I had put them in a pile because I didn’t want them. To his credit this is a bit of a habit I have. When there is something in a dish I don’t like I pick it out and pile it up on the side of the plate so I guess I can’t blame him. But I had been so looking forward to eating those cashews! He offered to order me some more cashew chicken but I declined.

I don’t think he has ever eaten anything off my plate since without asking first! Don’t mess with a pregnant lady!!

So here is our home version of cashew chicken.

The first step is to cut your boneless, skinless chicken breast into bite size pieces and put them in to marinade with some egg white, cornstarch, oil, soy sauce and rice vinegar. You can leave it for up to an hour or as little as 15 minutes. I usually go for the 15 minutes.

Next mix up the sauce. A mixture of fresh or powdered ginger, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, cornstarch and water.

Cook your chicken in about 5 tablespoons of oil. Be sure your oil is hot before you add the chicken. You do not want the chicken to brown as you will see some of mine did in the picture. That is what happens when your heat is too high and you walk away for a few minutes. You want the chicken to turn white and cook through.

Next add in the sauce you mixed up and stir to coat the chicken. It will thicken right up and glaze the chicken. Sprinkle with some red pepper flakes if you want a bit of heat.

After the chicken is completely cooked through remove from the pan and serve over rice. I garnished it with a few chopped chives because I didn’t have green onions which is what I usually use.

You could add in some vegetables if you like but I like to serve it with Chinese style dry sauteed green beans. I’ll be back with that recipe in a day or so! This dish is also gluten free if you use tamari sauce instead of soy sauce! Always a plus at our house.

Hi – I’m Leigh Anne! Food, family and friends are three of my favorite things. I love sharing easy, delicious recipes and entertaining ideas that everyone will love. When she started her blog, Your Homebased Mom, over 9 years ago she had no idea that it would one day house over 2,400 recipes and ideas! .

Comments

We live in Springfield, MO, famous for Springfield style Cashew Chicken – which I LOVE. But sometimes, I want something like this recipe which is almost impossible to find here so I am anxious to try this recipe – as soon as I restock my rice wine vinegar. I have noticed in several of your recipes that you suggest replacing the soy sauce with something else to make it gluten free. We have several friends who have Celiac’s, including our Bishop and one of the elders serving in our ward, so we’ve become semi-comfortable making gluten-free dinners. I wanted to make sure you knew, and your readers, that some soy sauce is gluten-free (but not Kikkoman). I know that our Dillon’s (Kroger) store brand’s soy sauce is gluten-free. Just read the labels. I now buy that as my standard soy sauce so I don’t have to think about it when I feed the elders or take a dish to our Bishop’s house.

Springfield style cashew chicken is at all our local Chinese restaurants. It is fried chicken chunks (I always ask for all white) with a basic sauce, cashews and green onions. I will send you some recipes.

WELCOME

Food, family and friends are three of Leigh Anne's favorite things. . Leigh Anne welcomes you into her kitchen and her life on a daily basis through her personable, down to earth, style and her readers often think of her as their neighbor next door.